Tommy Robinson is the former leader of the English Defence League (EDL)

Who is Tommy Robinson?

Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, 36, is a right-wing political activist from Luton, Bedfordshire.

His mother was an Irish immigrant who worked as a baker while his adoptive father worked at a local Vauxhall car plant.

He told the Telegraph in 2013: "Everyone in Luton is the son of immigrants. Whether it be Irish, West Indian, Ghanaian, everyone I know.”

Despite performing well academically at school, Robinson repeatedly found himself in trouble as a teenager, citing fights with "Muslim gangs" as one of the reasons for his "problems" as a youth.

Robinson is the former leader of the English Defence League (EDL), a far-right street protest movement.

The group – which the former British National Party (BNP) member co-founded in 2009 – are opposed to the spread of “militant Islam”.

He also has a criminal record with convictions for a number of offences, including football-related violence, trying to travel on false documents and a protest against Fifa’s decision to stop the England football team wearing poppies on their shirts.

He has been to prison on multiple occasions including in 2014 for mortgage fraud.

After studying aircraft engineering for five years, Robinson lost his job at Luton Airport in 2003 after punching an off-duty police officer during a drunken row.

He claims that stricter security measures following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, meant he has been blacklisted from working at airports.

Twitter said it suspended the campaign accounts for the candidate in the European Union who was previously banned from the platform.

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, has organised an event in Wythenshawe. Together with leaders from across our community I would like to share this statement. Yaxley-Lennon’s far-right political views are not welcome in our town and our great city. pic.twitter.com/fFmalxQX0Q

Reports suggest that, after lobbying by the right-wing website Breitbart the former Senator Sam Brownback met with the British envoy to Washington Sir Kim Darroch.

Has he been released?

Yes, on August 1, 2018, Robinson was released on bail after winning his challenge to his contempt of court conviction.

The Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and two other judges in London quashed a finding of contempt made in May at Leeds Crown Court and ordered a fresh hearing of the allegation against him.

On September 27, a fresh trial into the contempt of court claims over the Leeds trial got underway at the Old Bailey.

Robinson could face being sent back to jail, with a maximum sentence of two years in prison, if the judge finds him in contempt over the Leeds case.

Speaking of the previous contempt of court conviction in 2017, Robinson told Sky News that he does not care if his message "incites fear" of Muslims, and is "not bothered about the law" if he believes he is "morally right".

Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said: "If I believe I'm morally right then I'm not bothered about what your law says... I believe that forewarned is forearmed. All I wanted to do was get a video of their faces and I want every single child and parent who lives in that vicinity to know what those men were alleged to have done."

"The judge let down the British public. Those men should have been in a prison cell," he claimed.

"I don't care if it incites fear as long as it educates the children and prevents them from being raped," he added.

He also said that he "wasn't aware of contempt of court laws" at the time, and has since received legal training.

Ex-EDL leader Tommy Robinson says he doesn't care if he 'incites fear' of Muslims as long as it 'prevents children from getting raped'

What's his real name and why did he change it?

Robinson's real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, but he has been known to use several aliases, including Andrew McMaster and Paul Harris.

He claims he started using multiple identities during his time with the EDL for protection after threats of violence against him.

He headed the group from 2009 until October 8, 2013 when he was persuaded to leave the organisation after speaking with anti-extremist think tank Quilliam.

Robinson later went on to claim he was paid £2,000 per month for Quilliam to take credit for his leaving the EDL.

In 2015, he was also involved with the founding of the UK branch of German anti-Islam pressure group Pegida.

But he stepped down from his role with this organisation as well, saying he wanted it to be more “middle-class” than the EDL.

He now works as a journalist for Canadian right-wing news organisation The Rebel Media and owns a sunbed shop in his home town of Luton.

What has YouTube said about keeping Tommy Robinson on its website?

YouTube has defended its decision to keep controversial activist Tommy Robinson on its site.

The far-right activist was banned from both Facebook and Instagram last week, but YouTube argues his video content is fundamentally different from his social media posts.

Sites banning the English Defence League (EDL) founder have cited rules on hate speech or inappropriate content.

YouTube policies ban content "promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups" based on religion.

Is Tommy Robinson the UK's best-funded politician?

He has reportedly boasted that he received “probably in excess of £350,000” in donations in just two weeks.

Robinson said he made “a hell of a lot of money, [an] unbelievable amount of money” in 2018, reports the Sunday Times.

He claimed to have a “pot in excess of a few hundred thousand pounds” despite “spending £300,000 for the police and legal battles”.

According to the Sunday Times, the disclosures were made in a “little seen video” posted by Robinson last autumn.

The claim implies that supporters have given Robinson more than £600,000 in three years, making him the most generously funded political activist in Britain.

Robinson also enjoys a comfortable lifestyle after moving from his native Luton into a £950,000 gated house elsewhere in Bedfordshire.

The luxury pad has six bedrooms, four bathrooms and also features a sunken hot tub and underfloor heating.

In the video it’s claimed Robinson said that he intends to use the money to sue the governor of the prison where he was held, Cambridgeshire police and media organisations including Sky News and The Sunday Times.

Robinson’s solicitor, Alison Gurden, said she was not in a position to speak about any potential legal action.

He says he bought his home after selling seven houses he had owned in 2014, and that he then spent £200,000 on a plot of land with the help of money borrowed by his parents.

He then spent 18 months building the house himself, he says.

Was Tommy Robinson 'beaten up' outside McDonald's in March 2018?

Robinson alleged he was "violently attacked by left wing extremists" outside a McDonald's in London on March 10, 2018.

The firebrand ex-EDL leader tweeted about an alleged scrap he got into in the capital.

A video appears to show him being confronted by a gang near the fast food outlet.

It is not thought he was seriously hurt.

Caolan Robertson, a video producer, said Robinson was "being violently attacked in London by violent, left wing extremists".

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